Have Faith In Me
by Azaleatown
Summary: My OC falls into a warp ring that takes her into Shadow the Hedgehog, along with her older brother. They get separated and Emery must look for him while trying to steer a certain black hedgehog in the right direction at the same time.
1. The Beginning

In this story, we focus on a human named Emery that falls into her video game along with her brother...I really had no idea how to summarize this story more uniquely, so hopefully it's better than it sounds. Hopefully.

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"Shadow…the day of reckoning is near!" my older brother Lucas mimicked the game I was playing. I scoffed and then smiled.

"Who are you and how do you know I'm Shadow?" I played along. By that time I had beaten almost every ending of the game, Shadow the Hedgehog, except for one. It was impossible for me to finish it before since the level before the end always glitched up. I'd never been able to see the end of the game because of that one level, so it was pretty disappointing. But hey, I guess that's what we get for buying it off some weird old man on the street.

Neither of us had ever seen him before, except for the day he sold a lot of his things before he moved away. I was 12 when my brother got the game for me for my birthday.

…Now I'm 16, and I still haven't finished it. Great gamer right here.

But it's not like I've been playing it for four years straight either. That game was way too hard for me to finish at 12 years old, and for it being my first Sonic game, I just gave up after a while. But it's still my favorite, no doubt. Lucas always mocked Black Doom's voice in the beginning since you have to start the game over a lot, and it freaked me out how good of a job he did with it sometimes.

And I had to admit, if Black Doom was real, I'd be scared shitless of him.

I watched as Black Doom faded away after leaving Shadow hanging, and everything around him exploded. Even though it was my favorite, I never liked the way most of the stories played out and ended. I hated how naïve they made Shadow, amnesia or not. I couldn't count how many times I wanted to slap him for believing every lie he was told.

Well on another note, I'll tell you about my brother and I. My name's Emery, and he's Lucas. There's no point in telling you what we look like, really, since that aspect is about to change drastically for the both of us. But we don't particularly look alike. He had shaggy light blonde hair and mine was so dark brown it was almost black. We both had the same lime green eyes and pale complexion though, which made it slightly more believable that we were related. Lucas was three years older than me, but still managed to act my age. Or maybe I'm just mature, who knows.

"Lucas?" I called out when he disappeared. I paused the game halfway through Westopolis, getting up to see what he was doing. I looked out the window and into the blizzard outside; the cold fogging up the window so much I could hardly see. I gasped when I saw him outside in the snow, just standing there.

'_Are you kidding me?' _I thought as I put on my hat and gloves. I opened our sliding door and shouted to him.

"Lucas!" it took a moment before he looked over his shoulder at me, "What the hell are you doing?" I asked incredulously. What kind of a freak was he to stand outside in a blizzard without a coat? He didn't come back, but he turned to face my direction and put his arm up to cover his face from the snow. He grinned at me and I stared at him like he had grown a second head.

"Come over here!" he shouted to me over the raging snowstorm, waving me over. I groaned in exasperation before I pulled on my boots, hugging myself in my white hoodie as I stepped outside into the cold. I mumbled threats under my breath as I came closer, more than annoyed at his behavior. As I got closer I noticed a strange light poking out of the foot of snow. Once I was at my brother's side, my eyes grew huge. On the ground was an oversized ring, one we could easily fit through that was disturbingly similar to the rings in the Sonic series. I stared at it for a moment before turning to look at my brother.

"Is this a joke?" I asked him, still slightly miffed he made me walk out in the cold. His eyes caught mine and his smile never faded, and he nodded. After another moment of pure shock, I ended up smiling too. He put his hand on my back the next moment.

"Ready?" he asked, catching me off guard. My smile faded.

"What?"

I didn't have time to react before he pushed me over and into the warp hole. What shocked me more than the ring itself was the fact I had actually fallen through it. It _was_ real...

"Lucas, you bastard!" I screamed at him as I fell through the ground, and the last thing I saw through the warp hole on my end was Lucas jumping in after me. Once it had completely disappeared from view, I looked around me as I fell from ridiculous heights to see the sky was stained red.

And also, I couldn't help but notice I wasn't the only one falling. And I'm not talking about Lucas.

I noticed a lot of rather disgusting looking black creatures and birds falling around me, and it was then I realized where I was.

'_What the hell!' _I cursed, starting to panic as the ground got closer. Thinking fast, I grabbed onto the first thing I could get close to and held onto it for dear life. My eyes clenched shut in fear for my landing, and a moment later I opened them again when I felt I stopped falling. I blinked my eyes and looked down to see I was latched onto a Black Hawk, which continued flying around as if it couldn't even feel me. Climbing more onto its back so I could sit properly, I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down.

"Since when is this even possible…ha." I said without thinking. My mind was just about overloaded by this point, and it was hard to think without speaking. I looked around the area below me and saw a reasonably familiar city, Westopolis. The black arms just landed, causing havoc like their lives depended on it. And now that I think about it, it probably did. I sympathized with them for a second before mentally smacking myself. As the Black Hawk I was on started to descend, I hung on to its thorns and immediately noticed the black aliens were a lot uglier in person than in the game. The more human-shaped soldiers were scaly, and the hawk I was on looked almost spongy. It grossed me out to no end, but I managed to get over it since the bird had saved my life.

I took another moment to think and I realized, the smaller black wings and black hawks really weren't that bad. They never attacked anyone, they just flew around and looked scary. This one wasn't even trying to get me off, and that was pretty considerate for a bad guy.

'_I wonder if they speak English.'_ I thought, wondering if I could talk to the birds. I ended up deciding not to try, not wanting to push my luck in case they really were mean.

"Woah!" I cried out when a multitude of bullets whizzed past the Black Hawk. I looked down and noticed G.U.N. had finally arrived, and I took that as my cue to ditch the hawk. I pulled on its thorns to see if I could fly it, and it worked! I managed to fly it just outside of the city, near the grassy outskirts. I jumped off of the hawk and it flew away immediately, not waiting to say goodbye.

"Thank you!" I called out to it knowing I wouldn't get a reply. But hey, I appreciated it saving me, creepy man-eating alien or not. I took a deep breath to catch my bearings and looked back to Westopolis with a worried expression. Lasers fired down on the city from the sky, destroying it beyond repair. I felt bad that I didn't know how to help. Then as I turned my back on the soon to be forsaken city, I was stopped by a gust of wind that followed something speeding right past me. I stood there for a moment with wide eyes before I whirled back around, seeing a familiar black and red hedgehog run into the city I just escaped. I just stared in his direction as he left, momentarily forgetting how to breathe.

'_Just keep walking...' _I told myself for my own good. But my body didn't really feel like listening, so in its confusion I quickly became lightheaded. I only made it a few steps back before I blacked out.

…

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><p>Writing in first person is pretty new to me, so i'll probably change it up every other chapter or so and go back to third person. Since i've never done it before I can't really tell how good I did...but yeah anyway please review. I've already typed up the next few chapters, so I can update at any time really, but it depends how much feedback I get. Have a nice day! :)<p> 


	2. Sonic

**I do have more chapters...in fact, I'm already halfway finished with this story on Word. But I won't update again unless I get reviews. Anyway, thanks to everyone who favorited or added this story to their Story Alert ^^ and to my one reviewer! It means a lot. **

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So what really overwhelmed me when Shadow the hedgehog passed me a few hours ago, was only half because it was him, a fictional character. The other half was something else, something I was surprised I even noticed.

He was bigger than me.

I fainted again when I remembered it. If my memory served me right, in that split moment when he was right next to me, he was noticeably a few inches taller.

What happened to my life…

The second thing I noticed after that disturbing little detail was that Westopolis was no longer under attack. It was night time now, and all was quiet. The city was practically in ruins, but it no longer seemed to be in danger. I scoffed at my own thought and immediately changed my mind.

'_Pfft, that city will always be in danger.' _

I felt slightly paranoid in going back to the city, so instead I wandered around the outskirts until I found a tiny lake. I sighed.

"Let's look at the damage..." I muttered, knowing I couldn't look very pretty by now. I leaned over to look at my reflection in the water and screamed, falling on my ass with my hands over my mouth to shut myself up. After a few minutes I finally calmed down a little and looked back at my reflection. I was obviously no longer human, which explained the more meager size difference between Shadow and I. At first I thought I was a hedgehog as well, before taking into account I had a _lot _more quills than him, Sonic, or Amy. Mine were longer, thinner, and sharper looking, and came down at about shoulder length. Since it was dark outside, it looked like my fur was black but I could tell it wasn't. It was the same dark chocolate brown my hair was originally, but it seemed to get lighter brown near the end of my spines.

'_What the hell am I, a porcupine?' _

I looked behind me to see I had a tail too…which was a bit longer than the average hedgehog's, and it was very slightly forked. I narrowed my eyes at it.

'_Really? A forked tail.' _I mused in disbelief. Then I noticed it wasn't actually forked, but I had an extra quill on my tail that made it look that way. Oh, Lucas…

I shot up quickly at the thought, snapping my fingers like I had just realized something important. I remembered Lucas jumping in the warp ring after me! He had to be here somewhere…but where?

I huffed and crossed my arms, glaring at the ground in thought. Then I looked back to the ruined Westopolis with a more determined look in my eye.

'_Looks like that's my first stop…' _I decided, before nodding to myself and taking off. I surprised myself right off the bat at how much faster I was in this form. I smiled. That'll be useful while I'm running for my life from the black aliens in this stupid game…

Upon taking my first few steps back in Westopolis, I wasn't particularly surprised at the outcome. Although it was admittedly a bit more shocking to look at in person, all of the G.U.N. soldiers lying lifeless on the ground. I looked around me unsurely.

'_Shadow must have let Black Doom get to him…damn it.' _ I thought, a little worried. Apparently standing around in the middle of the street was also a bad idea, and the next moment I cried out and fell to my knees when I was hit by…plasma? I wasn't sure what it really was, but it burned in my shoulder like crazy. I recognized the sound as the guns used by the black arms, so I whirled around immediately after overcoming the shock from getting hit. I gripped my shoulder where I was hit for a while until the pain went away, and ran off and hid behind the corner of a building so the alien couldn't see me. I peered around the corner to observe the creature. It was roughly two or three times my height, but it obviously wasn't too smart if it hasn't found me by now.

'_All brawn and no brains…ha! There's no strength in numbers.'_ I mused with a smirk, stealing one of Shadow's lines. As oddly confident as I felt, I didn't have a clue what I should do. Of course they had no brains, they were only created to destroy, who needs a brain for that? Ah, what a life.

Then I decided I didn't even need to confront the rather pathetic creature when I could easily outsmart it, so I just kept running. Fortunately for me, at a speed they couldn't keep up with.

'_Dark mission complete, congratulations. Now where the hell are you, Shadow?' _I wondered.

Wait, nevermind. Where the hell is my _brother?_

Eventually after hitting a dead end I was forced to turn around, and after running back I ended up right where I started. With no luck, I leaned on the side of a building and groaned, sliding down worriedly as I covered my face with my hands. I heard heavy footsteps approaching rapidly all of a sudden, and I gasped. Taking a moment to cry out in frustration ended up being a bad idea, and the next thing I knew I had a black alien standing over me, a glowing purple sword held high to strike. I stood up hastily, backing up as far as I could before hitting a wall. I started to panic seeing I had nowhere else to run.

"Hey watch out!" a voice called before it rammed into the alien, causing it to fall over right next to me. I stood there frozen with my arms in front of me to defend, before I lowered them seeing the alien was no longer a threat. I couldn't help but look a little scared; in all honesty, I was. The Black Arms invasion was a lot scarier in person.

A lot.

Anyway, soon enough I was able to register that my savior was indeed a hedgehog! A blue one too, at that. He was also my size, if not bigger. He approached me seeing my still slightly shell-shocked expression and put a hand on my shoulder, just about making my heart stop.

'_Sonic the hedgehog…holy cow.'_ I thought lamely.

"Are you alright?" he asked, looking concerned. That look in his eye that made it obvious he was worried made my cheeks heat up unintentionally. That and his face was rather close to mine…but I assumed that was only because I was unresponsive for a while, still a little afraid. I snapped out of it and finally let my guard down more, starting to feel safer.

"…Yeah, fine. Thank you." I hesitated before responding, not wanting to stutter because I know that I would. Sonic smiled at me and let out a sigh of relief.

"That's good. I'm surprised you're still alive. How long have you been out here?" he asked. I tried my best to act natural, despite being about ready to faint again in the blue hero's presence.

"Not long. I got separated from my brother when the black aliens invaded…so I came back to look for him." I explained, looking distracted. Sonic looked sad hearing my story and looked away before replying.

"Oh, I see. I'll help you look for him, don't worry! By the way, what's your name?" he asked. I smiled at his offer.

"Emery. And…thanks a lot." I replied, averting my eyes. I was never used to thanking people. No one ever really did nice things like that for me very much. What a hero. Sonic grinned at me and gave me his trademark thumbs up.

"Nice to meet ya, Em! The name's Sonic, Sonic the hedgehog. And no worries!" he said enthusiastically, and I couldn't help but laugh a little at how carefree he was. Even after an alien invasion that destroyed the entire city, he could still act like nothing ever happened. It was pretty admirable, if I do say so myself. Sonic jumped up onto part of a broken building and held his hand over his eyes like he was a pirate looking for treasure. I was able to smile at his odd attempt at helping, but I was still worried. Why did Lucas seem so confident bringing me here? Did he have any idea how dangerous it was, for the both of us? Or did he not even know what he was doing, and just decided to take the leap of faith with his baby sister?

Well either way, the outcome will _definitely_ be the same no matter what when I find him…


	3. Cryptic Castle Pt 1

**So unfortunately, this one is the shortest chapter yet...but it's my favorite so far, so I hope it can make up for the short-ness. I looked at this story on a live preview the other day and I noticed the whole story itself seems really short so I'm going to attempt at making my chapters longer from now on. Hope you enjoy c:**

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3rd person POV!

"Amy…are you sure we'll be safe here? I mean, it is Eggman…" Cream the rabbit asked her friend unsurely. The pink hedgehog Amy wasn't very sure of herself either, but tried to look confident to set an example for her younger friend.

"It'll be fine Cream. I saw him run off here like he got stung! I mean, he may be Eggman, but I don't think he'd be selfish enough to say no to a couple of innocent girls. It's worth a try." She comforted, and Cream nodded. The orange rabbit kept her eyes down, hugging her chao close.

"I wonder where those aliens came from…" she mused quietly, her voice shaky. Amy looked at her worriedly, scared as well. Amy felt terrible that Cream had to see such violence at such a young age, and she couldn't do anything about it. Trying to keep her safe was the best she could do, even if it meant taking refuge at Eggman's castle. Once they came upon the giant doors, they both paused.

"I'm…I'm sorry Cream. I'm getting kind of doubtful myself now." Amy admitted, forcing a smile. She couldn't help being afraid, and Cream seemed to know it. Cream smiled back.

"I understand Amy, it's okay." She replied acceptingly. During that time, Cheese had been staring at the entrance intently before starting to wiggle his way out of Cream's grip. Cream looked down at him oddly.

"Cheese? What's wrong?" she asked as he struggled away from her. When she finally lost her grip, she reached out for him as he began to fly away.

"Cheese, come back!" she shouted as her chao fearlessly flew into Eggman's castle with a mission, Cream quickly on his tail. Amy gasped and ran after them, afraid for her friends' safety.

"Cream wait!" she cried as they both disappeared behind the massive wooden doors, which shut immediately upon their entrance, leaving Amy pounding on them desperately.

"Cream! Cheese!" she shouted, beating the doors, "Open up Eggman!" she demanded. After a few more minutes of trying, she suddenly deflated, falling to her knees. Amy held her face in her hands, unable to choke back a sob or two.

…

Flying above the pink hedgehog holding onto an orange balloon was a face not so familiar. With a head of short, shaggy, light yellow quills and noticeably bright green eyes, was a semi-new face.

The spiky newcomer looked below him, surprised but not surprised to see a distraught looking pink hedgehog directly below him. He smirked and let go of the balloon he hung on to. Unfortunately he didn't think very far ahead on how he was going to land, and couldn't maneuver very well in the air. So he said the first thing that came to mind and prepared himself for a beating soon to come.

"Look out below!" he shouted to his unfortunate victim. Amy looked up, surprised to hear a voice, and screamed as she was then used as a cushion for a rather sharp new friend. Amy groaned in pain underneath him and he rubbed his head.

"Ugh…rough landing." He commented groggily before remembering he was on top on someone. He quickly came to his senses and sprang up, holding his hand out for her to take.

"Ah, I am so sorry! I had nowhere else to land, see-" he explained before cutting himself off. The pink hedgehog stood before him with visible fire in her eyes, holding a hammer threateningly at the boy who had landed on her. He held his hands in front of him in a peacemaking gesture, shrinking back, slightly intimidated. Amy opened her mouth to scold the new face, but when she did, she stopped. The fire disappeared and she looked at him curiously, now looking almost like she was embarrassed. Her face actually turned slightly red, and she put her hammer away.

"O-oh, I'm sorry! I thought you were someone else. I'm sorry if I was rude." She apologized, thoroughly surprising her new friend. He looked at her oddly for a moment before getting over it.

"No problem. I landed on you anyway, I'm the one who should apologize." He replied, looking away to scratch the back of his head. Amy smiled and put her hands together.

"It's fine! So what's your name? I've never seen you around before." She asked innocently.

"Lucas! Nice meeting you." He added unsurely. Amy grinned at her new friend, hoping he would be of some help getting inside Eggman's castle.

"My name's Amy. Amy Rose!" she replied with a twirl. Lucas smirked and nodded. He already knew who she was, and he was getting a kick out of actually meeting her. Her fairy-like carefree attitude dissipated into concern only a moment later.

"Hey, Lucas…you came from inside this castle, right? You didn't happen to see an orange rabbit in there, did you?" she asked worriedly. Lucas feigned concern for the pink hedgehog, only faking because he knew she would be fine. Or she should be, at least. That wasn't really his decision.

"I didn't. I'm sorry. What happened?" he asked. Amy seemed to shrink, and Lucas then realized how tiny she really was. If he didn't know she was only 13, he would've been surprised she was smaller than Emery. Amy twiddled her fingers.

"Well you see…my friend Cream ran inside here after her chao ran away, and then the doors closed on me and I can't get in to go after her. I don't know what to do…" she said sadly, putting her face in her hands again. Lucas looked around for a moment, not knowing right away what to do. Eventually he decided on putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Amy, um…I'll go look for her!" he offered, not knowing what else to say. He regretted his decision almost immediately. Amy looked up at him hopefully, a gleam in her jade green eyes.

"Would you really do that?" she asked so hopefully, and Lucas couldn't bring himself to say no. Instead, he sighed and went along with it.

"I suppose." He agreed. Amy jumped for joy and caught him off guard by hugging him gratefully. Lucas hesitated before hugging her back awkwardly, not expecting her reaction in the least.

"Oh, thank you Lucas!" she said before letting him out of her death grip.

"Yeah, yeah." He said, turning his head so she wouldn't see the faint blush that appeared over his cheeks. It disappeared as soon as it came though, fortunately for him. Grabbing the balloon he arrived on, he jumped off the ledge and floated around the castle, rather annoyed at himself that he had agreed. If he did the hero mission, Shadow couldn't, which meant he'd have to be the bad guy again. Darn.

After another moment of thought to reconsider his options, Lucas smirked as he hatched an idea. He turned his balloon to move around the castle instead of dropping inside, seeing an occupied Egg Breaker at the very end. The fat doctor inside was typing away at a computer installed inside of the robot, distracted. Lucas caught the bright white light of a Chaos emerald from inside of it as well. Maneuvering his balloon umbrella until he was right above the fat man's robot, he let go and dropped onto the front of his controls, causing Eggman to let out a rather high pitched scream of surprise. Lucas reached in and snatched the emerald before Eggman could react, and jumped off of the robot in haste to leave.

"Ack, Sonic the hedgehog, why you!-" Eggman cut himself off when he saw who had really attacked him. His eyes shown pure confusion as Lucas continued to back away towards the exit of the castle.

"You're not Sonic. Who are you and how dare you steal my emerald from me!" he shouted, pointing a finger angrily at Lucas. Lucas smirked as he got closer to the exit.

"No, I'm not Sonic. I'm no hedgehog either, I'm a porcupine. And it's not yours anymore, sorry to break it to ya." He replied, unintentionally making a pun towards his Egg Breaker. Eggman didn't seem to like his sense of humor.

"Alright then, listen here Porky! You're not going anywhere with my emerald, I'll make sure of that!" he shouted in a rage. Lucas whipped his head around to glare needles at the old man.

"Porky?" he repeated incredulously. But unfortunately he had no time to be angry as the doors slammed behind him, trapping him in the final room with the Egg Breaker. Lucas couldn't help but sweat a little as he looked at the comparably massive robot closing in on him. Eggman grinned an evil grin.

"Lights out!"

…


	4. The Chaotix

…

"Sonic…I don't think he's here." I said finally, after hours of searching a city that was only so big. Sonic continued looking around.

"Hmm," he responded, "I guess not. But hey, at least we got rid of all those black creatures." He countered, looking on the bright side. I managed a smile and nodded in agreement. Sonic stood next to me, looking out on the ruined city with his arms crossed. It was rather unlike Sonic's character, but he seemed a little…upset?

"Sonic?" I asked, shooting him a worried look, "What's wrong?" he hesitated, and sighed before kicking a rock on the ground distractedly.

"I just don't get it." he started, shaking his head. I looked at him confused.

"Don't get what?" I prodded quietly, hoping I wasn't bothering him more than I already was. But hey, when Sonic's upset, something was really wrong. You can't blame me for being worried. Sonic never made eye contact with me, but continued to stare at what used to be Westopolis; the look in his eyes becoming more hurt with each passing moment of quiet.

"Are you okay?" I settled on asking after not getting a reply. It was a simple yes or no question, and it was much easier than an explanation that would be obviously not easy for him. Sonic turned his eyes to the ground.

"…Yeah. Just worried for a friend, is all."

And then it hit me. He was worried about Shadow.

Shadow…was his betrayal really hurting him that much? No, betrayal wouldn't even be the right word. Shadow was never really on anyone's side to begin with. I looked at the ground as well, abhorring the pain the blue hedgehog was obviously feeling that I had always been so ignorant of before. I suppose I always told myself these people weren't real, and they didn't have feelings. I never thought about how this would affect anyone…but not anymore.

'_I can't say it's always a bad quality, but…you're way too trusting of people, Sonic.' _I couldn't help but think. I honestly felt bad for him though, still. Sonic had really thought of Shadow as a friend, despite the feeling not being particularly mutual. I looked at him sympathetically.

"It's okay if you have something to do, you know…" I said without really thinking, "I mean, you don't have to stay and help me. I don't want you to waste your time here if you need to look for someone else." I said, looking away. I couldn't see it, but Sonic actually gave a small smile.

"Hey," he spoke softly, taking my hands and making me turn red again, "Thanks a lot, Em. I really want to help you, but…this is something I need to do. But don't worry, I promise I'll get the best of the best to help you find your brother!" He ended with a thumbs up. My blush had eventually faded, and I stared at his yellow-green eyes, puzzled. They look so much like yours, Lucas…

"Hang on," he said, whipping out a cell phone from who knows where.

People have cell phones here?

And Sonic…_uses _them?

Forcing the bewildered look off of my face, I tried listen to what he was saying and who he was talking to. All I could hear was a rather gruff, deep voice on the other end, but I couldn't tell who it was.

"Hey, guys, it's me. Think you could take a case for me?"

"…"

"I met someone downtown last night, and she got separated from her brother. I need to go after Shadow, so you think you could help her out for me?"

Ha, I was right.

"…"

"Great, thanks Espio." He ended, snapping the phone shut.

Espio?

Oh, how lovely, the Chaotix. That's what Sonic calls the best of the best? Ah, well…maybe they could help. Maybe. I doubted it, really. But maybe I was just being pessimistic.

Now that I think about it, the Chaotix did have an okay role throughout the game. If I was with them I was almost guaranteed to find Shadow, but who am I kidding, I don't need to find him. I needed to find Lucas, not him. But it seemed like every time I wanted to look for Lucas, I ended up looking for Shadow…

Maybe because I always knew where Shadow was. It is his game, after all.

Uh...

I meant for that to sound creepy.

And I lied. I came to the conclusion that I was in the last story I had yet to finish, but I wasn't sure if they were any new levels or anything. If I remembered correctly, it was like, the semi-dark ending…I don't know. But if I was heading to the Chaotix next, then I should be on my way to Prison Island, or the Mad Matrix.

But then again, what would I know? I never paid attention to my company, I just wanted to finish the damn level.

Getting back to the story, Sonic had led me a short ways outside Westopolis and we soon came upon a cozy looking house that I assumed served as a detective agency. I had to admit it was a pretty good cover, too. No one would suspect big-time detectives to live in such a modest home. Sonic knocked on the door and it was opened in a flash, almost knocking the both of us over. I blinked in surprise a few times and looked at the bright green crocodile towering above us. He had one hand still on the door and the other over his stomach, in a respectful bowing position to the both of us.

"Uhm…" I felt a little awkward when he didn't move for the next few minutes. Apparently Sonic didn't feel the same, as he beamed at the crocodile.

"Hey Vector, how's it goin'?" he asked casually, patting him on the back a few times. Vector stood up to his full height and crossed his arms, nodding to the blue hedgehog in a business-like manner. Then he turned to look down at me. It bothered me to have to crane my neck up higher than normal just to look him in the eye. I could tell I was going to get tired of it quickly.

"Not bad! This must be the little lady who needs our help then." He observed in his croaky voice. I mimicked his pose and crossed my arms.

"Mhmm." I replied for myself, and Vector put his hand to his chin as if thinking.

"I can trust you guys with her right?" Sonic asked, making me look at my feet. I couldn't remember the last time I met a guy as genuinely nice as Sonic…it was a shame he'd never exist in my world.

It'd still be a shame even if he did, since it was always the nice guys like him who'd get stepped on first.

"Don't worry Sonic, we got this all under control! We'll help the little porky find her brother in no time! Promise!" Vector assured him, slapping me on the back a little harder than he intended to, making me stumble forward unintentionally. I narrowed my eyes at the annoying nickname that confirmed my theory about what the hell I was.

"Oh, thanks." I said half-sarcastically. Sonic saw my expression and chuckled. At that moment I felt a little lonely, finally realizing Sonic had to leave. Out of anyone so far, I felt the safest with him. But now I was getting dumped with the Chaotix, no offense to them, but I was a little apprehensive. I'd miss the little blue guy. Sonic seemed to sense my hesitation and put a hand on my shoulder.

"It'll be fine, Em. I promise these guys will help you find your brother." He promised as he turned to face the other way, ready to leave.

"Maybe I'll see you again sometime." He added, winking at me with another thumbs up as he looked over his shoulder at me. I smiled and nodded hopefully, giving him a thumbs up as well. Then he disappeared out of sight in a flash of blue light, and I didn't even mean for that to rhyme.

...

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><p><strong>Another short chapter, sorry, but i've already had these typed up with around the same word count and I only have so many ideas I can add per chapter. After the next chapter they will get longer, I promise. And my author's notes are going to be just down here from now on, being at the top makes it seem in the way of the story to me.<strong>

**Also thank you to everyone who reviewed and favorited, if there's anything else I can do to make my story better feel free to let me know ^^**


	5. Cryptic Castle Pt 2

…

"What a mess…" I sighed quietly, looking out the window at the depressing scene. A thunderstorm had been raging for hours now, making it almost impossible for us to go out and search for Lucas. In my rather gloomy state, I succumbed to boredom and anxiety almost immediately.

I had been brooding practically all morning. Entering a Sonic the Hedgehog game was probably the coolest thing to ever happen to me, but after thinking about it, I realized that this was probably the worst one to fall in to. The very beginning of the game was practically the apocalypse, and it only got worse as it went on. In my case, anyway. Not knowing how it would end this time made me nervous as hell. I found myself almost constantly asking myself what Shadow was doing, who was he helping. Heck, it'd be great if he could help me…damn it, Lucas. You're lame.

"It's an awfully harsh storm today, isn't it?" Espio studied as he stared out the window seriously, appearing next to me in the blink of an eye. My eyes grew as wide as dinner plates and I tensed up, not expecting the chameleon to sneak up on me. After calming myself down, I sighed and agreed.

"Seems like it." I replied. Then his bright yellow eyes turned to mine, still looking as serious as ever, with a hint of curiosity I almost didn't catch.

"Is it the storm causing your anxiety, or is it just your brother?" he asked. Was he worried about me? Huh. I moved my eyes away from his and down to the window sill sadly.

"Nah," I admitted, closing my eyes, "I like the rain, normally. But…I guess I'm just worried. You understand." I ended quickly so I wouldn't end up simply repeating him. Espio nodded.

"Yes. I can assure you, Emery, we will return you to him as soon as possible. I have already begun investigating, actually." My eyes turned to him in sudden interest. He was good.

"You have?" I asked hopefully. He nodded again.

"I believe that if the two of you last saw each other in downtown Westopolis, he has merely escaped to another location. And if not…he may have been taken hostage by the black aliens." He ended darkly, looking even more serious if it was physically possible. I deflated in worry at his deduction and he seemed to notice.

"But of course, we're not positive at this point. But we will find out soon, I guarantee you." He attempted to comfort me realizing his mistake. I looked back to the window at the storm, which had let up a little into a heavy rain.

"I hope so." I said quietly.

…

"Lights out!"

"Damn it!" Lucas cried out, rolling just out of the way as the Egg Breaker shot towards him, narrowly avoiding the shock wave the spike ball on his arm caused. Lucas shot a murderous look at the doctor.

'_My first level in the damn game, and the first thing I get is a boss? That's bullshit.'_ He thought angrily as he ran out of range. Thinking he was safe for the moment, he was proven wrong when the Egg Breaker's spike hand shot out at him from afar. Shouting expletives every time he was caught off guard, Lucas had surprisingly dodged every shot Eggman took at him, but he was starting to wear down.

'_What the hell am I supposed to do?' _he thought as he started to lose his cool. If he starting slowing down, he wouldn't be able to dodge for much longer. Should he fight? Or try outsmarting him?

The latter sounded a bit more appealing, but he had a feeling it wouldn't work as well as it would a black alien. The former didn't sound much easier.

"Haha! My Egg Breaker won't wear out as easily as you, you little yellow pest! Who's going to save you now?" the ever-so-cocky doctor taunted, and Lucas made his decision after looking the area over while the doctor distracted himself.

'_Hmph. They made him a bigger idiot in this game than he normally is.' _He mused, stealing a glance at the closed wooden doors to his right. Bounding over to the path that connected the doors and the final platform, he stood his ground and waited. The Egg Breaker held up its arm, preparing to shoot the spike.

"Lights out!" Eggman shouted one last time before firing. It was pure luck that Lucas managed to get away in time at all; with one of the spikes grazing the side of his face and one scratching his shoulder. Eggman looked dumbfounded that he had been so easily fooled, and his jaw hung open seeing he had broken his own door down for the porcupine to make an easy escape. But unfortunately there wasn't much room for Lucas to stand, and the shock wave that accompanied the impact caused him to stumble over into the abyss below him. Reaching out to claw his way up from the ledge, Lucas gasped when his fingers only grazed the side of the platform, and he fell.

'_Emery…' _he thought in despair as he clamped his eyes shut. He could've sworn he felt himself fall over the edge, and he did. But only a second later, a hand had quickly clamped itself over his just as he had begun his descent. Feeling himself stop falling, Lucas cautiously opened his eyes and looked above him. With a black arm clutching onto his pale yellow one, Lucas was surprised at what he saw to say the least. Lime green eyes met semi-familiar crimson red ones, the owner of which hastily reached out with his other arm to yank him up.

"Lucas!" he heard a female's voice close by, recognizing it as Amy Rose. Once on his own two feet, he looked back and forth from Amy and Shadow a few times before sighing in relief.

'_Heh…what a hero.' _He commented to himself. A little shocked out of his wit at the moment, he didn't expect the black hedgehog to snap at him the next moment.

"Are you crazy?" he chastised, a hard look in his bright eyes that made Lucas flinch. He was actually a little intimidated at Shadow's rather demanding presence, and his anger especially. Lucas matched his gaze for a split moment with a glare of his own, and then he knew it would be best not to argue with the hedgehog. Lucas turned to Amy with a serious look after their little stare-off.

"Did you find Cream?" he asked normally. Amy nodded happily and Lucas smiled. Seeing Shadow walk away onto the platform with the Egg Breaker, the two of them stood back watched in curiosity.

"Doctor, tell me about my past! Who am I? What am I doing here?" Shadow demanded, no longer paying any mind to Amy or the porcupine he hadn't officially met. Eggman still seemed to be rather miffed that Lucas had outsmarted him, and refused Shadow answers.

"Still wondering who you are, Shadow? There's nothing to tell. You have no past!" he lied through his teeth. Amy gasped and Lucas glared at his dishonesty. Shadow refused to believe he didn't have a past much to Lucas's appreciation, and ended up fighting against him. Their battle was relatively similar to his and Lucas's, though Shadow was reasonably faster and knew how to fight back with a homing attack.

'_Why can't I do a homing attack?' _Lucas complained to himself as he watched.

While it was going on, Lucas eventually deflated with a huge sigh, flopping down onto the ground. He couldn't remember the last time he was so drained. It was then Amy noticed his cuts. She gasped and ran to his side, just barely poking her way through his personal bubble.

"You're hurt," she said, looking at his shoulder carefully, "Did you try to fight Eggman?" she asked worriedly. Lucas honestly felt a little pathetic at that point. He didn't really know how to fight in his body now, since he had only had it for a short amount of time. All he really knew how to do was run, at this point. And he wasn't the fastest thing out there, that was for sure.

"The doors closed behind me, I was trapped. You understand, right?" he teased nonchalantly. Amy caught it and put her hands on her hips defiantly.

"Well, at least I can say my situation was a bit less reckless." She argued lightly, "We'll get you to Cream's house soon and we can fix you up!" she insisted. Lucas was a bit unsure at the idea.

"I'm fine, Amy. It's just a scratch." He argued.

"Nope! You're coming with us!" she demanded.

"But Amy-"

"No buts! Shut up and let me help!" she ordered, pulling out her hammer.

"Oh boy…" he mumbled under his breath, backing away.

…

* * *

><p><strong>Last super-short chapter. Shadow finally made his appearance save for the first chapter, even though he doesn't have much of a role as of yet...but he will soon. Really soon. He'll show up a lot more after the next chapter. I promise!<strong>

**Next time, Lucas confronts Shadow and Emery goes on a little adventure with the Chaotix...**


	6. Find My Sister

…

"Hey Emery, where did you come from? I've never seen you around before. Are you a hedgehog or a porcupine? Is your fur black or just really really really dark-,"

"Charmy!" Emery snapped at the obnoxious bee.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Gosh darn it Charmy, leave her alone! She won't want our help much longer if you keep bothering her like this!" Vector scolded, making the bee shrink and hang his head in shame. Suddenly feeling a bit guilty, Emery sighed.

"It's alright, Charmy." She said in forgiveness, making the bee smile. Vector turned back to what he was doing, mumbling incoherent complaints about the bee. Suddenly curious, Emery walked over to look around him to see what he was typing.

"Hmmm," he mused in his throaty crocodile voice, "I think…" he left off. Emery waited a moment to see if he would ever finish his sentence, but he didn't. He stood in the same position for a few minutes, with his hand on his chin and his eyes closed as if he was thinking.

"Yes?" Emery and Espio asked simultaneously. Vector crossed his arms suddenly, before looking out the window to see the rain had finally stopped.

"We need a lead." He finally finished. Emery scoffed and Espio sighed in exasperation.

"I already told you, I've had ideas! I gave you suggestions hours ago!" he reminded impatiently. Vector turned towards Espio with an odd gleam in his eye.

"I know! And I think the first thing we need to do is to see what that no-good Doctor Eggman is doing! We might find a lead." Vector replied, choosing to ignore most of what Espio had said. The chameleon glared at Vector, but agreed to his plan all the same. Emery sighed, her ears flattening a little. These people didn't have a clue what they were doing…

"Are we going on an adventure?" Charmy asked excitedly, wrapping his arms around the back of Emery's head and standing on her shoulders. Emery's eye twitched slightly at first as the bee's childishness, but she had to admit it was cute. Luckily Charmy was able to avoid the ends of her spines… that wouldn't have turned out too good.

"Yes Charmy, an adventure with our new friend. Now let's get going already!" Vector rushed, heading out the door with Espio and Emery following quickly behind. Emery felt uneasy, not knowing where they were going.

Espio glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, catching her anxiety like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You should stop worrying, you know. You can trust that we will find your brother." He assured, causing vague surprise to take over her features. Emery then looked down, feeling guilty she wasn't putting enough trust in her new friends. But the thing was, she didn't really know how. Trusting people wasn't ever her forte, especially having to put her faith into something so unpredictable.

That's what Lucas really was, unpredictable. Things like that took her away from her schedule, and it made Emery paranoid not knowing where things were going. To push her into that warp ring so fearlessly as he did, he had to know something she didn't. And Emery didn't like that at all.

"Right. I'm sorry, I know we'll find him." She replied, and Espio smirked slightly.

"You're so easy to read. Your emotions practically radiate around you." He observed, making Emery turn pink. She narrowed her eyes sharply and opened her mouth to reply, but he had beaten her to it.

"Are you angry?" he asked, looking at her intensely as if it was a serious question. Emery huffed and crossed her arms, looking away defiantly.

"Not at all, Espio." She replied in a huff. Then, feeling sudden pressure on the back of her head, she paused and looked around.

"Ouch ouch ouch! Vector help!" Charmy's familiar high pitched voice shrieked, flying over to the crocodile with tears running down his face. The bee was waving his hand around frantically like he'd accidentally stung himself. After Vector forcibly calmed him down, they could see that his hand had been pricked with dark colored spikes. Emery gasped and her eyes widened in surprise, realizing what she had felt before had to have been Charmy.

"Oh, Charmy! I'm so sorry." She apologized whole-heatedly, running up to console the bee quickly. Charmy blushed and rapidly attempted to wipe his tears away.

"I-it's okay." He replied shakily.

"Ah, come here." Vector ordered, taking Charmy by the wrist. He started plucking the spines out not-so carefully, causing Charmy to cry out for each one.

"There, all done. Be a little more careful next time!" Vector scolded unsympathetically before turning back to the road. Charmy flew back by Emery and Espio as they walked along, flying between them as he rubbed his hand.

"You're lucky you were wearing gloves. They would've gone much deeper if you hadn't been." Espio commented, making Charmy's eyes widen in fear. Emery held her face and looked at him sadly.

"I really am sorry Charmy. I didn't mean to hurt you." She apologized once again.

"It's okay, it's okay. I can't even feel it anymore!" he said louder trying to look tough, but flinched when he tried balling his hand into a fist.

"Does it still hurt? I'm sorry." Emery asked worriedly. Charmy stammered for a moment realizing she saw through his act.

"N-no! Not at all!" he tried covering up. Espio scoffed at his evident lie. Emery smiled and nodded, seeming to buy it. Espio's eye twitched seeing she had fallen for such an obvious lie. Their journey was quiet again for some time, Charmy humming a tune every now and then.

"Hey, Charmy?" Emery spoke after a while.

"Huh?" he asked.

"I still feel really bad about hurting you like that. You do forgive me, right?" she repeated with her hands clasped together. Charmy looked at her oddly for a split second before nodding.

"Don't worry about it." he responded, actually quiet for once. Emery gave a small smile.

"Okay good. I really am sorry. I didn't mean to do it." she continued.

By this time, Vector had his head in his hands as he yelled in frustration. Emery was about to speak again to ask what was wrong before Vector cut her off.

"Don't. Worry. About. It. _Please."_ He pleaded in a strained voice, almost sounding as if he was going to cry. With wide, innocent forest green eyes, Emery only nodded and said nothing.

For the next few minutes, Charmy couldn't help but think as he floated about. Was that what it felt like to be annoyed, instead of being annoying? The feeling was foreign to him.

…

In the last room of Eggman's Cryptic Castle, Shadow cursed as the fat man made a last minute getaway after he had destroyed his machine.

'_Hmph…didn't even have a chaos emerald.' _he thought sourly as he turned to leave. Lucas noticed and tugged his arm out of Amy's iron grip, running over a safe distance from the black hedgehog.

"Hey, you. Shadow." He called out. Shadow had only taken two steps before he paused, not bothering to turn around. Lucas had safely pocketed the white chaos emerald before him and Amy had arrived, thankfully for him. And during their battle, Lucas had come up with a plan of his own. And his next move was probably a risky one, but he decided to take it either way.

"What do you say about making a deal?" he offered to him. He couldn't see it, but Shadow's eyes narrowed as he grimaced slightly.

"Not interested." He replied indifferently and began walking off again. Though, he wasn't able to make it far, as the porcupine had stopped him once again.

"Wait," Lucas halted, making Shadow stop and turn his head to him with a glare, "Just hear me out, and I'm sure I can make it worth your while. Actually, I can promise you that." He reasoned. Shadow scoffed in light annoyance before turning around to face him. Now face to face, Shadow almost took pity in the slightly noticeable desperation in Lucas's eyes. Like he didn't want to make a deal, he wanted help. But making a deal was the only way to spark his interest, to get him to listen. Shadow lightened his rather sharp gaze a little upon noticing.

"What is it?" he asked. What could a random stranger possibly offer that would have any value at all to him? Lucas seemed to calm down before speaking again.

"A few days ago, my younger sister and I were separated. If you can help me find her or bring her back to me safely, I can get you a Chaos Emerald. Easy."

There was a gleam in Shadow's eye when he mentioned the Chaos Emerald. Lucas cheered silently in his mind. Hook, line, sinker…maybe. There was still a chance he would say no.

"Do you know where she is?" Shadow asked. Lucas looked to the ground looking almost embarrassed.

"Well…no. I was with her in Westopolis, when the black aliens invaded. But I haven't seen her since." He responded reluctantly. Shadow closed his eyes and crossed his arms, as if thinking. Lucas waited a few minutes for a reply, which were so tense for him that he started to fear Shadow could tell he already had the Emerald.

"I'll do it. What does she look like?" Lucas grinned and let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"Dark brown porcupine, about Amy's height with green eyes like mine. 16 years old. Deal?" he asked with his hand held out. Shadow looked at it oddly before he sighed, and shook on it. Amy and Cream looked at them from afar, wondering what they were talking about.

"I think Mr. Shadow made a new friend." Cream said with a sweet smile, holding her chao close. Amy smiled as well, thinking that it had to be something good if not what Cream had said. Amy always thought Shadow was a good person, even if he didn't always show it.

"Maybe." Amy agreed quietly, secretly hoping Cream was right.

Shadow turned around again to leave, but stopped on the edge of the platform.

"I'll meet you back in Westopolis with her then, since it is no longer under attack." Lucas nodded.

"Alright, thank you. It means a lot, Shadow." Shadow sighed inaudibly, and teleported away. Shadow felt something tugging at his insides after his own last statement.

'_Yeah. Under attack from me.' _He remembered with a somewhat revolted look on his face. The memory of himself taking out every G.U.N. member clashed horribly with the porcupine's words, making Shadow feel almost sick to his stomach.

He couldn't tell if he liked helping people or not. It made him feel…weird. That was the only way he could really describe the feeling. Lucas was grateful for it, either way. That much was obvious.

…

"Where is that computer room!" Vector shrieked in impatience. After finding it, they had all been searching through Eggman's previous hideout, wandering throughout the maze-like structure to find the computer room. Emery was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing like always, not able to figure out how this could possible relate to her current situation.

"Um…Vector?" she started quietly.

"What?" he shouted, and Espio shushed him immediately. Realizing he had lost his cool in front of his client, Vector's face turned red as he tried composing himself.

"Ahem, I mean…yes?" he corrected. Then, seeing the comparably miniscule porcupine before him looking semi-intimidated, he suddenly felt bad for snapping at her. He twiddled his fingers awkwardly, waiting for her to answer.

"How does information on an old computer relate to my situation? Not to sound selfish or anything, but I thought you guys were a detective agency, so I thought you would be helping me instead of dragging me around…" she drifted off, her statement making the three detectives all nervous on the spot. Espio began to panic and Vector started to sweat, while Charmy flew around speaking nonsense as if he had gotten her quills in his hand again.

'_She thinks we're not a real detective agency…' _Vector thought grimly.

'_She is underestimating our abilities…I cannot allow this!' _Espio thought with a determined look on his face.

'_What if she stabs me with her hair again if we don't find him soon enough!' _Charmy panicked as well. Charmy was the fastest to react to her statement and flew directly into Vector's personal bubble, getting into his face shamelessly.

"Yeah Vector, what are we even doing here? We have to find him now!" he shouted, and was soon joined by Espio who didn't waste a second to speak after Charmy.

"I agree with Charmy, Vector." Vector looked back and forth between the two incredulously, stuttering a few times before coming up with an explanation.

"Uh- well, you see…" he started, feeling immense pressure. "I thought that if we could find out what that old crack pot is up to, we might be able to find out something about…uh. Well we're doing something, aren't we? Don't worry your pretty little head, porky, we got this all under control!" he saved, patting her on the head carefully, so not to hurt himself as Charmy did. Charmy looked puzzled, and he put on a thinking face for a moment, mulling over what Vector had just said.

"Porky…porcupine…haha! I get it! Good one Vector!" he laughed, much to Emery's annoyance. Emery glared at the bee, who in turn stopped laughing after a few minutes when he felt her eyes burning a hole through him.

After a few minutes of the rather awkward silence Charmy had created, Espio decided to cut it short.

"So then, where are we headed?" he asked, aiming the question at Vector. Vector simply stared at the wall like he had been for the past few minutes, until he felt everyone's eyes on him. He looked around back and forth from each person before processing that Espio was talking to him.

"Huh? Oh! To the computer room!" he decided again, pointing in some odd direction. Emery groaned in exasperation before following him reluctantly, knowing he didn't have the slightest idea where it was. Espio caught her eye and sighed, shaking his head at his boss. Charmy just hummed a nice little tune as they walked, which would have been soothing if their search wasn't so tedious.

…

* * *

><p><strong>I am so incredibly sorry for the wait! My computer took a poop on me, and then fanfiction was being dumb and wouldn't let me log in...<strong>

**I feel like this chapter wasn't really worth the wait either. I wanted to get it out as soon as possible, and I wasn't sure what else to put in one chapter so I don't really like this one much. Also there's one future chapter i've been thinking about a lot, so i've had my mind on that instead of these little filler chapters. So i'm sorry if this one isn't that great. I'll make it up to you somehow I promise! **


	7. Sky Troops

…

"Shadow, you fool…that boy had the Chaos Emerald on his person…why did you not retrieve it when you had your chance!" the unnaturally deep voice of Black Doom spoke. Shadow glared at the air fortress in front of him, not fond of his tone.

"He did nothing wrong." He responded calmly and simply, knowing Black Doom wouldn't have an answer for it. The boy Lucas wasn't a human, and so the alien couldn't come up with a valid reason for Shadow to attack him. The fact Shadow had gotten around that reason made Black Doom furious, although he did not show it. Looking around at Eggman's air fortress, Shadow plotted his route through from afar. Falling to the Earth from these heights wasn't exactly safe, so he decided he would take the long way.

Eggman's fortress was connected to some odd floating ruins in the sky. This place was actually a relatively old hideout, but Eggman of course needed to escape some place after being chased out of his castle. Shadow took note of the multiple battleships he had flying around it as well, trying to decide whether he should destroy them or just ignore them. The thing was, he wasn't sure if he wanted to try his luck again getting the doctor's help, or if he just wanted to get to ground level to look for the girl.

Eventually, he decided on killing two birds with one stone and set out to look for the doctor. If he refused him information again, he would simply go back to his original plan. Shadow hopped off the high platform he stood on, taking off through the ruins. As he ran, his eyes couldn't help but wander to the sky every so often.

'_This blue sky…staring at it from afar, have I seen it before?' _he wondered. It seemed so familiar to him, but he couldn't understand how. Once reaching the main level, he was joined by Doom's Eye. Shadow frowned at his presence he had decided to make known.

If it wasn't obvious, Shadow wasn't particularly fond of the alien.

No, he _hated _Black Doom. He really did. Shadow doubted the alien knew or even cared, which Shadow was a little grateful for either way. He couldn't have too much of an attitude with him, not if he wanted to know about his past. A good enough explanation for his disdain for the alien was merely that he hated taking orders from anyone. Striking a deal with him at the beginning wasn't so bad, but Shadow had gotten tired of it quickly after Doom started acting like Shadow was his tool. Black Doom was not his master, and he never would be. Simple as that.

"Shadow, the foolish scientist still seeks to resist us…use our cannons and blow his ships out of the sky!" he demanded, right on cue. Shadow managed with a lot of effort to suppress a growl and keep a blank expression as he kept running ahead. He had to admit though, shooting Egghead's ships out of the sky did sound like a nice idea. But since he still wanted to try his luck getting the fat man to talk, he ran right past the cannon and deeper into the ruins. Soon running into the doctor's little floating tv, Shadow wasn't sure if he was happy to see him or not.

"Ah, Shadow! Fancy running into you here!" he greeted cheerily. Shadow had to admit, he liked Eggman a lot more than Black Doom. And he didn't even like the doctor.

"It seems these ruins attached to my base have a peculiar power source keeping it afloat. Do me a favor; find it and destroy it." Eggman insisted. Shadow glared at the screen lightly.

"Not without a price, doctor." He replied, and Eggman frowned.

"Alright, alright. Do as I say and I'll share some nice information with you." He baited.

"Good." Shadow agreed as he entered the inside of the ruins. It was a rather large room, with statues lining the walls and a spinning green jewel in the center.

Oh, and it was _swarming _with black aliens. The soldiers guarded the upper level while ugly pulsating blobs infested the bottom.

"Those pulsating blobs are some sort of alien spawn. Make sure you don't overlook them!" Eggman chimed in. Shadow jumped to the upper level after avoiding the blobs, and used a homing attack on a soldier before taking his weapon. With it, he made quick work of the blobs and the rest of the soldiers guarding the exit. Shadow threw away the gun in haste, until Eggman stopped him.

"Wait! I've detected a high energy magnetic field coming from that jewel, it must be the power source!" Shadow scoffed and skidded to a halt before turning around, destroying the jewel with a homing attack. Jumping back up to the upper level, Shadow took off once again in impatience. Finding a rocket on the edge of the platform, he held on as it launched to another part of the ruins closer to the beginning of Eggman's base. Shadow held onto a parachute as he dropped to land, launching a homing attack at a few of Eggman's robots in his haste.

"I wonder how my robots are doing?" Eggman pondered. Shadow raised an eyebrow. His machine must not have 20/20 vision, if he didn't see Shadow just destroy the both of them. Or maybe he did see, and was just being sarcastic?

Either way, Shadow scoffed and kept on his way. After entering and exiting a room similar to the last, Shadow stopped seeing he had reached a dead end. The weather was getting worse as well, as a raging thunderstorm billowed above him. Being as far up in the sky as he already was, it was dangerous to keep going. Then, spotting a black hawk at the end of the platform, Shadow took the risk of getting hit by lightning and jumped right onto it. It tried shaking him off at first, until Shadow pulled on its thorns with enough force to almost jerk them off.

"Do as I tell you!" Shadow demanded before the hawk let out a screech. Finally obeying, the hawk lifted off and flew through the raging storm to reach the final platform. At the end of it, Shadow could see something shining.

'_A Chaos Emerald?' _he identified before hopping off of the bird. Shadow took his opportunity and snatched the light blue jewel, and as he did, the rain stopped. He looked up to the sky and sighed quietly in relief. Flying miles and miles above the clouds during a thunderstorm was nerve-wracking, even for the ultimate life form.

Right past the emerald's previous location was the entrance to Eggman's old base. Shadow noticed that the base and the ruins were slowly descending, most likely from destroying its power source. Taking a short break, Shadow turned his gaze back to the sky that looked so oddly familiar. Racking his brain to find some sort of recollection of his past, Shadow was suddenly struck with a barrage of images. With a gasp, he fell to one knee.

Shadow saw a long, metal hallway looking down upon Earth. Then, running down that hallway, he saw himself. Holding his hand was a human, a young blonde girl with sapphire-blue eyes. Her eyes looked so terrified, so scared. Why was she scared? And what were they running from?

Shadow was brought back to reality with a jolt. He lifted a hand to his head, trying to ease the aching pain that crawled its way in. That girl…how did he know her?

'_Maria?' _he remembered. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He had almost forgotten that he had a mission. Standing back up, he walked himself through the sliding door entrance to Eggman's base. It was visible in his eyes that he was a little worn out; only half the reason because of his flashback. Shadow found himself hoping he wouldn't have to fight another Egg Breaker once he finally found Eggman again. As he walked down the narrow metal hall, his eye caught something on the other side of the window. Shadow turned his head, looking out the window to see none other than the fat doctor flying away. Shadow stopped.

At first he was a little shocked Eggman was running away, and the next moment a low growl escaped his throat as he glared at his retreating figure.

"I'm wasting my time!" he growled, referring to the doctor. Now a hard look replaced the tired one he had only moments before, as he continued to the end of the hallway. Shadow took out the blue Chaos Emerald and held it up to use Chaos Control; but then he paused. Just beyond the door at the end of the hall, he could've sworn he heard something. Putting his ear to the door, he heard it again.

Voices?

It was obvious the voices weren't Eggman's. Straining his ears, he listened to see if he could make out what they were saying.

"_Aren't you done yet? At this rate, the entire day will be wasted!"_

"_Yeah, whole day wasted!"_

Shadow lifted his ear off the door and smirked.

…

Vector slammed open the metal doorway; the last room they had yet to check. Once the door flung open, he gasped dramatically, leaving Emery and Espio trying to peek around him and Charmy to look over his head out of curiosity.

"This is it! This is it!" Vector cheered and entered the rather large room. Emery sighed, happy their incredibly drawn-out search was finally over.

"Finally." Espio mumbled and crossed his arms. They all piled into what was obviously the computer room, the dead giveaway being the giant computer in the center of the room. Charmy was in the air and about to seat himself in front of it, before Espio pushed him away lightly with his hand.

"Let me handle this." He said. Charmy rested himself on top of Espio's head, while Vector peered over his shoulder. Espio's eyes shifted a little, uncomfortable with the lack of space they were giving him. Emery stood over to the right of them, looking around the room. Espio saw her out of the corner of his eye and thought this odd. There was nothing else in the room except for the computer. Whilst typing away at the computer, he spoke to her.

"There isn't much around here to look at. What's wrong?" he asked curiously. Now, Emery didn't seem worried as much as she seemed nervous and it set him on edge. She turned to him and tensed up a little.

"…I just get the feeling something bad is about to happen. But don't listen to me, I worry too much." She admitted dismissively, catching herself with a fake smile. Espio glanced back at her once to see her expression before turning his eyes back to the computer.

"It's not a bad thing to be overly cautious." He replied. Though, he sounded as monotonous as always, Emery appreciated his attempt at helping. She nodded.

The truth was, Emery knew exactly what was supposed to happen. And if things played out how they were supposed to, she had nothing to really worry about. She was just nervous about seeing Shadow. She couldn't help but wonder, would he even look at her, or would she be invisible to him?

"Are you done yet? At this rate, the entire day will be wasted!" Vector rushed. Charmy flew up next to him and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, whole day wasted!" he repeated. Espio glared at the crocodile.

"Hey, back off! Data retrieval isn't exactly my specialty." He snapped back. Charmy grabbed the side of his chair and started tugging on it.

"Let me do it then! Let me try! Let me try! I wanna try!" he pushed, getting on everyone's nerves. Vector put his massive hand over Charmy's face and pushed him away, causing the bee to struggle.

"Stop bugging him, Charmy!" he scolded.

"But I wanna try!~" he whined through his hand. The whole time, Emery was tapping her foot impatiently with her arms folded.

"Shut up you guys." She cut in, hardly attempting to sound intimidating. In fact, the tone she used didn't even sound serious in the least. Either way, the three of them did shut up when the door behind them slid open. Espio jumped from his chair in a defensive position and the three detectives turned around in a flash. The sound of the door opening made Emery gasp, not as prepared for it as she thought she was.

"An assassin?" Espio thought aloud. The three of them all looked rather caught off guard, unlike Emery who looked unfazed. Well, on the outside.

Then through the door in strolled the black hedgehog she had expected.

'_Walk in, walk up to the computer, hit the computer, jump into the computer, disappear.' _She listed out his every move in her head.

"Well, well…if it isn't Shadow! Your timing is impeccable." Vector greeted, "You know that Eggman fella pretty well, don't ya? Well, we need help to hack into his computer…and don't ask why!"

All was going well…until Shadow stopped halfway to the computer. Emery's eyes got a little wider.

'_Why did he stop?'_ she wondered, and her question was answered when his eyes turned to her. She couldn't help but gasp inaudibly under his gaze, which was sharp and colder than she had imagined. Though there was a look in his eye that almost looked like curiosity, and it made Emery nervous again when he didn't look away. It almost looked like he was trying to remember something…?

"Hey, are you listening?" Vector prodded in Shadow's direction. Shadow closed his eyes before looking back at the Chaotix.

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to take the girl off your hands." He replied, pulling out his Chaos Emerald. Emery's eyes became as wide as dinner plates for a moment before returning to normal. She took a step back impulsively and recoiled away.

"W-what?" she asked incredulously. Shadow began walking towards her then, which was when she started to panic.

'_What the hell happened to going after the computer?'_ she freaked. Emery stood frozen in her spot, not knowing what to do in the least. Then to lead the story even more off course, Espio took action quickly and ran in front of her, holding his arm out to bar his way. He held a mini glare in his bright yellow eyes as Shadow stopped again.

"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to steal our client." He denied, making Shadow raise an eyebrow.

"Steal? I'm doing her a favor." He corrected much to Emery's confusion. She unintentionally shrunk to hide behind the chameleon, despite her growing curiosity at Shadow's motives. Peering over his shoulder, Emery's eyes caught Shadow's again.

'_His eyes are so much prettier in person.' _She admitted to herself shamelessly. She calmed down quite a bit when she saw that Shadow didn't look hostile in the least, like he had no intention of hurting her. She hoped she was right. But then a glare overtook his face when he looked at Espio.

"Unless you plan to explain yourself, you will not lay a hand on her!" Espio defended when didn't back off. Shadow stopped and smirked, making Emery turn red.

"Try me." He challenged. Emery gasped when she saw Espio's other hand inching towards his weapons. That's when Emery started to get actually afraid.

'_They're not supposed to fight!' _she rejected in her mind. Was it her fault nothing was going how it was supposed to? Finally, she had gathered up the courage to speak up. She felt she had to drag their attention away from fighting.

"What do you want with me Shadow?" she asked, though her slight fear was evident in her voice. He stole a dismissive glance at her before looking back at Espio. He was beginning to get annoyed at the innocence in her eyes. It almost made him feel guilty about taking her, but the feeling went away after assuring himself he was only doing what he was supposed to.

"Don't worry about it." he replied quietly.

There was a knot in his gut after he said those words, and he tried his hardest to keep from grimacing. Words like that were only meant to comfort people, but the way Shadow said them it sounded like he just didn't want her to ask. Like when someone asks what's wrong and you say nothing. It doesn't mean that nothing's wrong, it means you just don't feel like talking about it. Shadow had every intention to tell her what he needed her for, but not around the Chaotix. If they found out where Lucas was, they'd simply take her there themselves. And Shadow wouldn't let that happen. He didn't agree to the job out of the goodness of his heart; he agreed because he needed the Chaos Emerald. The one Lucas promised him would make 4. Looking back at the girl, Shadow couldn't help but look a little surprised when she calmed down, just like he said. She was still tense, but she no longer looked worried in any way. Why would she believe him, just like that?

It was then, Espio sprang into action and threw one of his ninja stars at Shadow in the blink of an eye. But then, Shadow disappeared before it could hit its mark, making Emery gasp.

'_Chaos control?' _

If Emery was surprised at that, she got a bigger shock at his next move. Though he was still a bit angry at the doctor for lying and ditching him, Shadow was tired and fortunately had no intention of fighting. So to make things quick, he pulled a cheap move and got through Espio by warping behind both him and Emery. Emery didn't have time to look around for him before he pulled her to him by her waist, making her yelp since she was caught off guard. Realizing her position, Emery couldn't help but turn twenty shades of red before Shadow lifted the emerald to use Chaos control again, and the two left the Chaotix behind in a flash of blue light.

…

* * *

><p><strong>Hoho! I don't know about you, but I kinda liked this chapter. It was fun to write, and surprisingly not as difficult to proofread as I thought it would be ^^ the length was unintentional, but i'm glad for it anyway. Maybe i'll 'unintentionally' make chapters longer in the future, too...<strong>

**Anyway, I wanted to thank FireWolfHeart and Sierra Zanimalini14 for reviewing so regularly! I'm flattered you have stuck with my story this long. The next chapter will be the half-way point in the story, so I intend for things to get more interesting from here on out.**

**Sierra Zanimalini14: I hope there was a little more suspense for you in this chapter. x) I was already finished with it by the time I got your review, so I wasn't really aiming for suspense at the time but I think I did okay. And the chapter i've been thinking about is the very next one as a matter of fact! I'm excited, and I hope I don't disappoint. ^^**

**FireWolfHeart: Thank you! I'm glad you like my story :D**

**In the next chapter...will Emery finally see her brother again? Or will her and Shadow get sidetracked when a certain Black alien that no one likes butts into their business? Find out next time!**


	8. The Doom Pt 1

...

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a grassy field in an area that didn't look terribly familiar. It took me a moment to comprehend what had just happened, and I was shocked back to reality when I felt Shadow let go of me. I blinked almost rapidly, confused out of my mind as to what was going on. After looking back and forth to tryfiguring out where I was, I whirled around to find Shadow as if he had never moved. After giving me that short moment to collect my bearings, which I didn't, he turned and walked off, waving me over as if he wanted me to follow.

"Hey, where are we going?" I asked when I caught up to him. Or more like demanded, to be exact. I hated it enough when people threw me off schedule, and Shadow was doing a pretty good job of it so far, so it didn't put me in the greatest mood. I had to pick up my regular pace a little to catch up with him.

"What's your name?" he asked dismissively as he kept looking ahead, ignoring my question completely to fuel my annoyance. I had to hold back a scoff.

"Emery." I responded either way. I thought about repeating my question, but considering he was a little more intimidating in person and I didn't want to be annoying, I kept my mouth shut. Seeing as I already made it clear I knew his name, he didn't bother giving me his in return. And surely enough, my efforts at being quiet weren't in vain.

"Your brother's meeting us back in Westopolis." Shadow informed indifferently, making my bad mood dissipate in an instant. I instantly brightened up, looking up at him hopefully.

"Lucas?" I asked quickly in disbelief, "You met him?" He only grunted in response, and I took it as a yes. I couldn't help but smile. Westopolis was just beyond the hill, and I could finally see my brother again!

Even though I knew it didn't really matter, I still couldn't help but wonder why he was helping. Shadow should be busy doing something else, right?

"Well, thank you. But…why are you helping me?" I asked curiously. Then he turned his head to look at me for the first time since we got here, and it felt like his eyes were burning a hole through me. I flinched a little, but tried covering it up.

"I'm not doing it because I wanted to. I'm doing it for the reward."

…Ouch.

I really should've expected something like that. I was disappointed, and maybe a little hurt by his response. But then my disappointment was quickly replaced by annoyance at my brother. What could Lucas _possibly_ offer him? I huffed silently, and continued following him obediently.

"…Still. I appreciate it." I responded quietly. I kept my eyes to the ground for the most part, so I didn't notice Shadow looking at me oddly from the corner of his eye.

…

"I'm not doing it because I wanted to. I'm doing it for the reward."

Emery tried to cover up her disappointment after Shadow told her his honest reason for helping. Shadow blinked.

'_What? Did I hurt her feelings?' _he thought, looking at her half-sulking figure. It wasn't particularly a concern for him, he just didn't understand why she would be disappointed. People shouldn't expect random good deeds from him without a reason. That's what he thought, at least…

"…Still. I appreciate it." she persisted quietly.

You know how when you get an idea, you get that feeling that a light bulb's lighting up over your head? That's how Shadow felt, except the light bulb was a giant question mark. He didn't have a clue how to respond, so in turn he just gave her a confused look that she didn't notice.

'_She appreciates…my attitude?' _Shadow thought sarcastically, before he remembered what she was really talking about. He had to hold back a sigh before he shook his head, continuing on his way forward to urge himself to stop thinking.

When he had first found Emery, he was a little unsure if it was really her. He didn't have much information to go off of considering, according to Lucas's description, they didn't look that much alike. And trying to match up their eyes was a bit of a challenge. When he saw Emery's eyes, Shadow didn't see Lucas; oddly enough, he saw Sonic. Truthfully, their eyes were almost the same green, despite Sonic's being a tad lighter. Maybe it was just because they were around the same age, and they just had the same look?

He didn't want to admit it, but when Shadow had told the Chaotix he was going to take Emery, her reaction had startled him a little. She looked…scared. The look had immediately reminded Shadow of the blonde girl from his memory, Maria. She was scared too. It was the same look. But if Emery was afraid of Shadow…it wasn't him Maria was afraid of, was it?

Shadow put a hand to his head as the thought pained him a little. He had a zoned out look on his face as they walked, and Emery looked at him worriedly.

'_What's he thinking about?'_ she wondered.

"Shadow?" she asked quietly, reaching out for him a little, hesitant to see if he was okay. When he opened his eyes again, he looked around as if something was following them before he looked back at Emery. Shadow looked caught off guard, surprising Emery a little.

Then, the next thing Shadow knew, the ground disappeared beneath him.

"What?" he said in confusion, as he floated in an odd space. Looking around, he found that along with everything else, Emery had also disappeared. Then hearing an inhuman voice behind him, realization hit him.

"Shadow…you seem troubled."

Turning around with a glare, Shadow saw the ever so familiar alien, Black Doom.

"Look," Black Doom gestured in front of them. Now Shadow could see planet Earth from a distance, along with a floating, metal…space colony?

"That's the…"

"Yes, that's right…Space Colony, ARK. 50 years ago." He finished. Shadow's eyes widened in curiosity.

"The ARK? 50…years ago?" he repeated in disbelief. What had given him a bigger surprise was when he looked closer, and down a long metal hallway, he saw himself and Maria. Running.

"That's…me." He noticed before he looked behind him and Maria, seeing three G.U.N. soldiers running after them. Shadow gasped, and then he remembered all at once.

'_Those humans…that's what she was afraid of. They killed Maria!' _he realized as a cold, hard glare settled over his features.

"That's right…this will remind you what the humans did to you. Never forget that horrifying image!" Doom provoked, as anger started surging through every fiber of Shadow's being. Doom pulled back his arm to teleport him to ARK, but he was interrupted.

"Wait." Shadow stopped, "Emery. I need her for the Chaos Emerald." he reminded, not wanting to risk getting separated from her.

"Very well…she will be waiting for you on the ARK. I suggest you get to her quickly, in case the humans find her first…" he ended with a devilish laugh, and Shadow couldn't keep the slightly worried look off his face. Then, he was warped away, into the space colony.

…

"Uh…" Emery stared at the spot Shadow disappeared. She didn't remember him ever just randomly disappearing in the game. With a look of annoyance, she let out a sigh and looked around her.

"Shadow?" she called, hoping he only used chaos control and was still around somewhere. But she got no response.

"You've got to be kidding…" she whined.

"Okay…Westopolis is just over this hill, and Lucas is waiting for me. I can get there by myself. If he doesn't want his stupid reward, that's his pro-" Emery's sentence was cut off when the ground beneath her disappeared. Eyes wide and twitching, Emery looked down in shock. But unlike Shadow's situation, gravity did not hold her up, and she started to fall.

Emery screamed as she fell, more than startled at what just happened. She fell for a good few minutes, and she started to think that it might never end. It reminded her of one of the levels in the game she could never finish, because the level glitched and the floor disappeared. She remembered it perfectly- The Doom.

'_Shadow, I just can't leave everyone behind!' _Emery recited in her head, but immediately felt bad. In The Doom, Maria followed you around and you had to help heal the researchers on the ARK. Of course, that line was basically the first and last thing she heard, since it was always impossible for her to continue through the level.

Emery stopped screaming when she passed a few tiny lights as she fell.

'_Stars?' _she identified, and then she looked below her to see a mass of grey approaching fast.

'_Just my luck!' _Emery thought in disbelief as she braced herself for impact, but oddly enough, when she made impact with the space colony, she passed right through it.

"What the-?" Emery was in for a rude awakening when the outside of the colony was completely passable, but the inside was not. Landing in a semi-familiar metal room on the inside of the ARK, she landed right on her front side, and the wind was knocked out of her on the spot. She was lucky, if she leaned anymore forward she would have face-planted the hard metal floor. Emery could hardly regain her breath without feeling an intense pain in her ribs which she could've sworn she heard crack, and she could only stay awake a few moments before blacking out. Right before she did, she finally understood what Shadow's problem was before and why he disappeared with a pang of realization.

'_I hate you Black Doom…I hate you, I hate you, I hate you.'_ She thought immaturely, knowing he had to be behind it all. She thought she was hallucinating, but Emery could've sworn she heard him laughing.

…

Shadow looked back and forth around him when he reappeared inside the ARK. Everything seemed so familiar…

"Shadow!" Shadow snapped his eyes open and turned around, seeing the blonde human right behind him. He looked at her in awe, wondering how it was even possible she was _there_. Did he go back in time?

"I just can't leave everyone behind…please, you need to rescue the people being held by the G.U.N. soldiers in the laboratory!" she pleaded, and Shadow couldn't say no.

"Yes, Maria." He replied determinedly with a nod as he took her hand, running off in search for them. Passing through two automatic doors, they entered the first main room in the lab. Jumping up onto the floor above them, Maria pointed off to the other end of the room. There was a man in a white coat on the floor, unconscious.

"That's one of the researchers! Shadow, give him a heal unit." Shadow nodded. Near the wall there was a ring emitting a blue light, and inside of it was a solid glowing bubble. Shadow picked it up and carried it over to the fallen researcher, dropping the heal unit on him. Evaporating on impact, the researcher regained consciousness and sat up. Maria sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness he's alright…" Shadow smiled slightly, and continued with her into the next room. After hitting a dead end, Shadow curled up into a ball to spin dash through an opening under the wall. Surprisingly enough, once he got through, Maria was still there. How'd she get through without his help? Either way, he continued through the door to his right and he was joined by Doom's Eye.

"Remember, you were attacked by the humans here. You know what you must do…finish them off!" his statement made Shadow remember Maria's fate, and he glared at the humans in the room ahead. The soldiers noticed him immediately and pointed their guns at him.

"Don't let him get away!" one of them ordered, but it was too late before Shadow launched a homing attack at him. Shadow jumped up to the higher level and took out the other two in a flash, along with the flying robot above them.

"Don't hurt them, Shadow!" he heard Maria's voice. Turning around, Shadow saw no trace of her.

"Maria?" he asked, jumping back down to the lower level. It sounded like she was right behind him… Shadow frowned. Then he noticed another fallen researcher. Finding another heal unit, he took it and threw it to him. Seeing Maria was now nowhere to be found, Shadow continued into the next room; a hallway that split in two directions. Walking forward, he contemplated which way he should go. It was oddly quiet, slightly unnerving Shadow.

"You may want to take a left…before something _unfortunate _happens, Shadow." Doom's eye told him from his right side. Shadow's eyes widened a little, suddenly anxious as he sped to the left.

There was nothing in the first room. No soldiers, no Maria, no enemies…it was still an unsettling silence. Then he opened the door at the end of the room, and was appalled at what he saw in the next room.

It was Emery. Lying on her stomach, head tilted to the side, unmoving. Her face looked pained, and huddled around her were three G.U.N. soldiers, one of them poking at her head with the end of his gun as if to check if she was alive or not. Shadow couldn't keep the frightened look off of his face as he was hit with another flashback.

…

"_I'm begging you, Shadow…someday, as my replacement…for all the people living on that planet…" her voice echoed through the room despite the fact she was speaking barely above a whisper. Maria lay on the floor on her stomach, slowly dying._

"_Maria!" he shouted, his hands pressed against the glass in his escape pod she had forced him into. The rest of her sentence was incoherent, leaving Shadow still questioning what she wanted him to do._

"_Adios…Shadow the hedgehog." She said one last time before Shadow's escape pod departed, leaving him in agony because he could do nothing but watch._

…

"Maria…" Shadow mumbled shakily, before he shook his head to snap himself back into reality. He didn't waste any time after that before he used a homing attack on one soldier, knocking back the other two in the process. One of them was still conscious, and Shadow approached him and grabbed him by his collar.

"What have you done?" he growled at the soldier. All he got in response was a trembling coward begging for his life, so Shadow knocked him out with impatience. Turning back around to the injured porcupine, Shadow paused. He had to force himself to stop shaking, partly from his rage and partly because of the memory of Maria. Now he was hesitant because he knew he had to help her, but he was…afraid. What if he was too late?

Tearing himself away from the possibility, Shadow got on his knees next to Emery and hesitated to even touch her. If she wasn't…_alive_, he was sure he was going to lose it. He couldn't cope with that again, not when the situation was so _eerily_ similar. Shadow never knew he was so afraid of death.

"Emery," He tried, before he gathered the courage to shake her gently awake. He tried a few times before she clenched her teeth in pain, obviously awake, and Shadow stopped immediately thinking he was hurting her. Her breathing was labored and her eyes cracked open slightly to look at him. Shadow thought he would go insane just making eye contact with her. She looked like she was about to cry, or she at least wanted to. But she didn't, she didn't have enough breath to cry.

"Shadow," she started quietly, her voice strained. Shadow could tell something was really wrong.

"I can't…" she was forced to take in air, but she flinched when she did. Then it clicked in Shadow's head. She couldn't breathe.

Shadow wasted no time in flipping her over, flinching when Emery hissed in pain and held her arms over her ribs. Shadow caught himself wondering if she had broken one of them somehow. Or a few. He needed to do something, and do it fast. Shadow whipped his head around to make sure the G.U.N. soldiers were still out, and then he looked back at Emery.

"Stay here." He ordered before racing out of the room. Emery couldn't hold back a laugh, but she wished she could have when she felt a stabbing pain in her ribs right after.

'_I'm on the ground suffocating and you think I'm going to run away?' _she thought. Shadow came back a few moments later, holding a heal unit over his head. Emery looked at it with wide eyes.

'_What the hell is that thing?' _she wondered nervously, and she turned her head away thinking it was going to hurt when Shadow dropped it on her. Surprisingly for her, it wasn't painful in the least. It felt nice. The pain in her ribs left her quickly, and she could breathe regularly once again. Shadow kneeled down again to see if she was alright, and by that time she had already started sitting up. One of her arms was around her now healed ribs, and the other holding her up.

"Are you okay?" Shadow asked. Emery blinked a few times before her eyes found his, which actually looked a little concerned. Emery's cheeks turned red at how close he was, and then she nodded. That time, Shadow actually noticed her blushing and he felt the question mark appear over his head again. The confusion was bad enough that he actually put his hand on top of his head as if he was trying to get it off. The next second, he stood up and took her hand, helping her up. Emery put her hands to her head when she got up, feeling dizzy from the after effects of the heal unit.

"How did you get here?" he asked. Emery shook her head to get rid of the dizziness, and scratched one of her quills.

"I don't even know…you disappeared, then the ground disappeared, then I was falling through space, then I fell through the walls and landed right here! I'm not crazy." she drifted off and rubbed her eyes. Stupid heal unit. Shadow scoffed and forced back a smile.

"What happened to them?" Emery asked when she noticed the fallen G.U.N. soldiers behind them. Shadow cast a glance at them, glaring slightly before he looked back at her.

"They were trying to hurt you." He explained shortly. Emery was surprised at how sweet it sounded, and she smiled a little. Even though she knew he probably didn't mean for it to sound that way, she couldn't help being a little flattered. Emery looked back at the soldiers warily, and wondered if what he said was true.

"Come on. I don't want you getting lost here." Shadow urged her back to the door.

"Oh, yeah." Emery remembered, "Where are we again?" she asked as they exited the room they were in.

"Space Colony, ARK. Lucas will have to wait until we get out of here." He replied. Emery sighed quietly. She had gotten her hopes up too…

Shadow fought back a twinge of guilt as they continued. Once they made it back to the hallway that split in two, Shadow started looking around.

'_Maria?' _he thought as he looked around for her. It had upset him a little that she had just disappeared before. Especially since he had heard her voice, but she was nowhere to be found. Deciding on the path leading to the right, Shadow sped off down the hall with Emery close behind. Heading through the door at the end, they entered one of the main rooms. In the middle of the room was the weapon used for defending the colony, and around it were more G.U.N. soldiers. Black Doom's words echoed in Shadow's head, and he glared at the humans from their spot by the door. Emery could practically feel his anger towards them just by looking at him. Shadow took a step and was about to go after them, before Emery grabbed his wrist to stop him. Shadow jerked his head back to look at her, not understanding why she had stopped him.

"Don't. You don't have to hurt them." she tried reasoning and looked away. She almost regretted it, but for some reason she didn't want him to fight. It was an impulse for her, really. They were lucky the soldiers had yet to notice them. Shadow pulled his arm out of her grip and for a moment was slightly tempted to snap at her, but then they were spotted.

"Over there!" one of them shouted. Afraid to leave her out in the open, Shadow scooped her up into his arms in a second, running over to the other side of the room and onto the elevator to escape. The elevator had a cage wall to protect from the soldiers who were now shooting at them both, but it wasn't completely bulletproof. One of their bullets got through and Emery screamed and recoiled when it hit the wall above her head. She couldn't hide her terrified expression, and didn't bother trying. Shadow took her by the arm and pushed her back to the wall behind him, with his arm out to cover her.

"Get back," he told her, tensing up as if he was about to pounce on someone. Emery did what she was told, wondering what he was planning. She didn't have to wait long though, seeing once they made it to the level above, more soldiers were waiting to ambush them. Unlike the ones before, these soldiers had knives. Shadow jumped to take out two of them with a homing attack to the head, unintentionally leaving Emery open to the last one. Alarmed, Emery's quills stood up a little as she saw the last one going after her. As he went to strike, Emery dashed around him, just grazing the back of his hand to miss his weapon. She was surprised when she heard him cry out in pain and drop the knife, and she looked back to notice he had been close enough to get a handful of her spines.

"You little pest!" he cursed at her as he gripped his wrist. Emery looked at his hand from afar, ignoring his insult. She could've sworn she saw something red dripping down his hand, and she gasped.

"Are you bleeding?" she asked quietly, shocked she cut him that bad. Shadow scoffed at her naivety and grabbed her hand, running away before the soldier could pick up his weapon. Through the next few doors, they came into a room that, in Emery's eyes, looked exactly the same as every room before. Except the floor went from being flat to sloping upward, and there was a doorway on the top and bottom floor. In a rush, Shadow pulled Emery to the door on the bottom floor, which led to a room that looked identical to the elevator room they were in previously.

'_This place is a freakin' labyrinth!' _Emery thought exasperatedly.

"How in the world do you know where you're going?" she asked Shadow as they ran. Shadow glanced behind them to make sure they weren't being followed.

"I don't." he admitted, making Emery smile. They kept running down the lower level to keep hidden from the G.U.N. soldiers, when Shadow's mind wandered to Maria again. What if she was in trouble? Once at the end of the room, they stopped seeing they had two exits. One to the left, and one ahead. Shadow was about to turn to the left before Emery's voice made him stop.

"Shadow wait!" she halted and pointed to the raised floor just above them, seeing a researcher on the verge of unconsciousness.

"We have to help him," she prodded quietly so she wouldn't attract the soldier's attention. Shadow agreed with a nod, knowing that's what Maria would have wanted him to do. The only problem was that the heal unit was on the floor above them, and he couldn't get to it without attracting G.U.N.'s attention. He thought for a moment before looking back at Emery.

"Stay here." He said before running out into the open, dodging bullets as Emery hid around the corner. She knew he would be okay, but watching it made her nervous. From her spot she could hear the soldiers falling to the floor, and the flying mechas blowing up after impact. Once they were all out of the way, Shadow jumped up to the higher level to get the heal unit, giving it to the researcher they found. Emery smiled from her spot below and she was soon joined again by Shadow. He was breathing a little harder than before, and Emery noticed. He tried covering it up, but he still looked a bit tired. After catching his breath, he held out his hand to her.

"Let's go already," he prodded in fake annoyance as if she was making him wait.

"I was waiting on you!" She argued before looking at him with an oddly fond smile, taking his outstretched hand. Shadow sighed and looked away when he felt his face heat up in the slightest.

Then, as they continued running deeper into the space colony, Shadow found himself wondering what he was really looking for. An exit? Or Maria?

...

* * *

><p><strong>So...i'm splitting this part up into two chapters. I don't want one chapter to be drastically longer than others without working up to it...and this one would've been like, maybe 8,000 words. Yeah. :P <strong>**I've proofread this chapter like a million times so I hope I did good. It took a lot longer than I wanted it to, so i'm gonna try to get the next one out sooner. **

**Also random fact, when i'm confused, I actually do feel like I have a question mark over my head and I catch myself with my hand on my head a lot. It's the only way I could describe the feeling. xD**

**Hope you enjoyed, please review! I missed getting them ^^**


	9. The Doom Pt 2

…

At this time, Amy and Cream had finally made it home with their new friend Lucas. Though it was a bit of a last minute surprise, Lucas wasn't their only guest anymore. In Cream's living room sat the aloof yellow porcupine, trying to ignore the fuming red echidna that sat across from him. Cream's mother, Vanilla, had no need to ask why the echidna had come along so angry; all the explanation was no doubt in the patch of yellow spikes stuck in his fist and up his arm. The two huffed and looked away from each other when Amy re-entered the room, causing her to sigh.

"You two are so childish! Come here, Knuckles." She said urging him to give her his arm. She held an ice pack in her other hand for him once the spikes were out. Knuckles jerked his arm away from her when she reached for it.

"I can get them out myself, thank you!" he snapped, making her glare at him. Lucas watched with narrow eyes, leaning his head on one hand. Even Lucas knew that his quills were much too short for someone with hands as big as his to get out himself.

"You cannot!" Amy shot back defiantly, "Give it here before I pound them in deeper!" she threatened as she pulled out her hammer. Knuckles went wide-eyed and complied, swallowing his pride. Even Lucas looked a little intimidated as he watched. Her temper was definitely not one to be messed with.

"You shouldn't be so mean to our new friend, Mr. Knuckles. Cheese and I think you should apologize." Cream said as she walked in the room, taking a seat next to Lucas who merely scratched the side of his head where the few quills had been pulled out. They grew back surprisingly fast, it seemed like they almost weren't even missing.

"Yeah, guy. It was an accident. You _were _the one who had your fist so close to my head_, _if you remember. Almost like you wanted to hit me." Lucas goaded with a small glare. Knuckles glared back and growled, and the two females watching could almost see the electricity between their eyes. Knuckles huffed and looked away smugly.

"My name's not guy, kid. It's Knuckles. And it's not my fault you look like a hedgehog, I didn't think they would come out." He argued. Lucas's glare got colder as if he had taken it personally.

"Listen _kid, _I'm 19. Those are a natural defense, so it's not _my_ fault they came out. If you wouldn't have attacked me, they'd still be in my head, and not in your arm. I apologize." He ended sarcastically. Surprisingly enough, Knuckles couldn't come up with a witty reply and merely looked away. He didn't expect the porcupine to be a good two years older than him. He looked about his age, but his now intense glare showed much more maturity than Knuckles had noticed before. Knuckles flinched a few times as Amy pulled out the spikes lodged up his arm, but tried covering it up. Lucas had already shown him up once, and Knuckles didn't want to give him the chance to do it again.

"So what were you doing at Eggman's castle, Mr. Lucas?" Cream asked him after he got rid of his glare. Lucas blinked a few times, the question catching him off guard. After he jumped in the warp ring after his sister, he honestly didn't know how he ended up at Eggman's castle. He remembered falling- and one of the more massive black arm's soldiers winding up his club before he blacked out. He was knocked out of the city like a baseball. The thought made him remember the slight pain in the still-fading bruise on his head. It wouldn't be bothering him still if it wasn't for his small 'fight' with the echidna.

"The black aliens chased me out of the city, and it was the first place that seemed…kind of safe." He replied hesitantly. Eggman's castle, safe? HA. Most ridiculous lie he'd ever come up with.

"Yeah, right! Eggman, safe?" Knuckles said sarcastically as if reading his mind. Lucas let out a laugh.

"Hey, I didn't even know the guy." He supported his half-lie. Amy gave him a look that reminded Lucas of his mother- like she was about to scold him for doing something stupid. And she was, sort of.

"Eggman's not someone you should take so lightly, Lucas. Just look what he did to your shoulder!" she reprimanded. Lucas looked back at his shoulder, which was now bandaged up since Amy had already tended to him first.

"It was just a scratch, Amy." He argued calmly. It was then Amy lost her cool a little more.

"You _fell _off of the edge of that platform! You would've died, Lucas!" she rebuked, raising her voice. Lucas became a little alarmed, making his quills stick up a little.

"But I didn't, Amy. And if I did, then it would've been my fault." He continued, keeping his voice calm as ever. Lucas didn't particularly enjoy fighting of any kind, unless it was necessary. And he thought fighting with a girl 6 years younger than him was an honest waste of time.

"No, it would've been _my_ fault! I was the one who asked you to help me find Cream! If I hadn't asked, then you never would've found Eggman, or even gotten into that situation…" she argued, her voice turning emotional near the end.

'_Great. Just please, don't start crying.' _Lucas thought, sensing her distress. He was never good with comforting a girl. Unless, of course, it was his sister. There were plenty of girls around the world that are emotional like Amy. Lucas hated admitting it, but in reality, the only one he really cared to comfort was his sister. Any other girl could go ahead and cry.

'_And at that thought, I sound like a jerk. Ignore that last paragraph.' _He mused, sighing in exasperation at the pink hedgehog.

"Amy, it's fine. Please, just shut up." He pleaded, the ache in his head starting to get worse the more he heard her voice. Amy looked a little taken back by how blunt he was, and dropped the subject as she handed Knuckles the ice pack.

"I'll be right back." She said solemnly before walking out of the room and into the kitchen. Noticing how quiet she was, Cream headed to the kitchen right behind her, leaving Knuckles and Lucas alone. Holding the ice pack on his arm, Knuckles looked at the porcupine almost surprised.

"Not many people have the guts to tell her to shut up, you know." He commented. Lucas crossed his arms.

"I said please." Knuckles scoffed, but a grin slowly crept onto his face.

"That's pretty commendable." He admitted half-seriously, looking away. Lucas gave him an odd look, raising an eyebrow at the red echidna.

"You should never be proud of hurting a lady's feelings." Lucas remarked seriously.

"Then why don't you go apologize?" Knuckles asked.

"Because I don't need to." Lucas replied blatantly. Knuckles smirked.

"I wouldn't either." he agreed. Lucas let out a quiet laugh, not expecting to agree on anything with him. Not a moment later, Lucas stood up to put his shoes back on. As he did, Amy and Cream stood in the doorway with a questioning look on their faces seeing him up.

"Where are you going?" Cream asked innocently.

"Westopolis. I have to go. Thanks for the help though." He replied, taking his way out. Amy threw her arms out to block his way.

"No way! Westopolis is all the way on the other side of the canyon, you can't go alone. That place was already taken over by the black aliens!" she denied in a protective manner. Lucas had to force himself not to scoff, since he didn't want to be rude.

"You're not my mother, Amy. You can't treat me like a kid." He said with a light glare. Amy shrunk back a little knowing it was the truth. She didn't have any power over him.

"I'll go with him, Amy. Just calm down and let him go." Knuckles' voice said from behind him. Lucas turned to see him on his left side, perplexed green eyes meeting determined purple ones. Knuckles looked at him before crossing his arms, closing his eyes with a fake indignant huff.

"Like she said, the canyon's infested with aliens. No one could make it through there alone." He explained. Lucas blinked in slight annoyance, but then he nodded, knowing it was best.

"Alright, fine. Thank you." He said indifferently. Knuckles nodded and handed Amy the ice pack, him and Lucas moving past them to reach the door. Knuckles stood in the doorway on his way out, and Lucas hesitated before leaving with an unsure look on his face. He went back in the kitchen to Amy who was looking at them worriedly.

"Hey, Amy." He started, catching her attention, "Thanks a lot." He said, giving her a smile for the first time in a while. Amy smiled back and nodded, a little speechless at his change of attitude. Then he and Knuckles took their leave, and Cream was beaming at Amy.

"I think that was his way of saying sorry, Amy." She said happily. Amy turned red for a split second, but kept smiling either way.

"I think it was." She agreed.

* * *

><p>…<p>

Emery watched slightly in awe as Shadow carried an explosive bigger than him above his head. She stood back as he threw it to a large crack in the wall, making it blow up so they could continue. Emery was startled for a moment by the loud noise, but got over it quickly when Shadow came back and took her hand. They hadn't come across too many G.U.N. soldiers in a while, so Shadow was fairly calm. Since he found Emery again, he had been fighting with himself over what he should do. He wanted to find Maria since she had disappeared, but a part of him seemed to know that he wouldn't find her…another part of him wanted simply to find an exit and leave, so not to risk Emery getting hurt. What he was most wary about, was the chance that what happened to Maria might happen to her as well. And with all the G.U.N. soldiers all around, the chance of that was actually pretty likely.

Then somewhere even further inside of him just wanted to annihilate every soldier flooding the ARK. But then again, he didn't feel like fighting with Emery, and he knew she would try to stop him. That'd just be a waste of time. Shadow shook his head slightly at the thought. He didn't understand. They could point a gun to her head and hold a knife to her throat, but she'd still defend them. It didn't make any sense. Shadow had a feeling he wouldn't be able to keep quiet about it for much longer.

At that thought, Shadow finally decided they needed to leave. He reluctantly and somewhat painfully shoved Maria to the back of his mind, and continued through the maze of a space colony with Emery in tow. Shadow looked to his left to glance at her for a split moment, taking note that she was starting to look worn down. He slowed down a bit so she could keep up easier before they came to a stop completely. Emery sighed once after catching her breath, but didn't complain.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Shadow looked around him curiously, memories flooding his mind bit by bit.

"This place…it's starting to look familiar." He responded quietly, letting go of her hand. He started walking towards the door at the end of the hall, and Emery followed. Upon entering the next room, Emery smiled at the familiar setting. The room was wide and open, with a window that covered most of the front wall. It had a perfect view of the Earth from afar. G.U.N. apparently had yet to reach this far, as they hadn't encountered any soldiers for a while. It was a relief for them both. Shadow and Emery went up to the window to look outside. Emery was more openly enthusiastic about the view, and her energy returned almost at once.

"This is so cool…" she thought aloud, lightly pressing her hands to the wall, "I could look out here all day." She said with a grin.

'_I used to.' _Shadow remembered with a smirk. Staring down at Earth for a moment, he was snapped out of his thoughts by an oddly high pitched noise coming from the area around him. He looked around to his left then to his right, noticing Emery's ears perked as if she had heard it as well. Emery was less than curious to find out where it was; she had already recognized the sound. It was the sound Doom's eye made as he flew away.

Shadow hadn't recognized him by the sound alone yet. Since they had entered the last room, Doom's eye stuck himself to the ceiling to watch them from above.

'_Why is he slacking?' _Doom's eye mused with displeasure before it settled on the dark brown porcupine next to him.

'_So he saved her after all…' _he thought, boring a hole into her form, his eye filled with malice. He was a little surprised when she tensed up, frozen as if she could feel his eye on her. Doom became angrier and angrier every second he looked at her.

'_That wretched girl…I've had enough of her interfering!' _he plotted furiously, realizing her part in stopping Shadow from annihilating G.U.N. Un-sticking himself from the ceiling, he quickly flew out the open door and made his escape. Not even a minute after they heard the noise he made, Shadow started to get a bad feeling. Slowly stepping away from the window, Shadow looked towards the door he heard the alien leave. Emery turned to look at him, knowing exactly what was wrong. Or at least hoping that they were thinking the same thing.

"We need to go," he explained shortly, waiting for her to follow. She complied without question, glad he didn't want to follow Black Doom. On their way out she paused, seeing something red glowing in a machine in the corner of the room. Shadow looked back at her questioningly.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Hang on a second," she said before running off back into the room, causing Shadow to follow after her.

'_What is she doing?' _he wondered almost impatiently. Watching her from the doorway, he felt a little pathetic admitting to himself that he felt nervous whenever she wasn't right next to him. After traversing through ARK all day, he had quickly gotten used to keeping her away from trouble. And by now he started thinking of practically everything as a potential threat to her. He had to restrain himself from almost whining as Lucas's words rang through his head.

"_If you can help me find her or bring her back to me __**safely**__, I can get you a Chaos Emerald. Easy."_

_Safely _being the key word. If she was injured in any way when reunited with Lucas, there was a chance he wouldn't get the emerald. Shadow didn't have a doubt in his mind that he could just take it from him in the end either way, but that's something he didn't want to do. Shadow was awestruck that Lucas would even put his trust in him, a _complete_ stranger, with the well-being of his little sister. That was another thing that made zero sense to him. Did everyone do stuff like that?

Either way, he was the kind of too-honest person that Shadow would actually feel _guilty _about double-crossing. What did people call that…pity? Compassion? Shadow stopped thinking when he saw Emery fiddling with a machine. It made him nervous.

"What are you doing?" he asked walking over to her. Emery took a tight hold of something inside of the machine, before giving it a good tug and successfully pulling out a bright-red gem. Shadow stopped and stared at it with semi-wide eyes, not expecting an emerald to be hidden so cleverly. He was even more surprised she had been able to spot it from across the room. Emery waved it in the air with a triumphant grin.

"A…Chaos emerald?" he spoke in quiet surprise. Emery grinned at him, and he found himself unable to string together another sentence. She hopped off the machine and was in front of him in a flash, holding it out to him.

"Want it?" she offered, going to the trouble of getting it out so she could give it to him either way. Shadow didn't know how to respond. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to accept it.

"…Why?" he asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. To Emery, it looked like suspicion. She looked at him worriedly, afraid of what he might be thinking.

"Why?" she repeated, "Why not? Aren't you looking for them?"

'_Yes, but how do you know that?' _Shadow wondered. Then he did what was probably the stupidest thing he could've done in that situation, and pushed her hand away.

"No. I don't need it. I'm already getting one from your brother, so just keep it." he denied, turning away shaking his head. He didn't want her to see the completely baffled look on his face.

'_Yes, I need it! What am I saying?' _Shadow shouted at himself in his head. Why couldn't he understand? She obviously knew what a Chaos emerald was- so why would she just give it away? And to him, of all people? And more importantly, why the hell did he say no? It was a free emerald!

Emery had a pretty shocked look on her face as well, but she was able to hide it faster than him.

'_Getting one from my brother? How in the hell did Lucas get a Chaos emerald?' _she thought dumbfounded. As Shadow started walking away, she sighed quietly and followed reluctantly.

She _knew _he needed that emerald. Why wouldn't he take it? Emery glared at his back as they walked. She'd have to find some other way to make him take it.

"I thought we could use it to get out of here." She said quietly looking down at the red gem, "You can do that with this, can't you?" Shadow glared at the path in front of him.

"Of course I can." He replied, thinking that she was thinking little of him. Emery opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, another voice found its way into Shadow's head and he froze.

"_Shadow, help me!"_

Wide-eyed, Shadow grabbed Emery by the hand and bolted down the hall and to the left where he heard Maria's voice.

"Hey!" Emery argued, hardly being able to keep up. But Shadow didn't hear her.

"I'm coming, Maria." he spoke under his breath. Emery heard him and her look of annoyance turned to shock, and a little sympathy.

"Maria?" she repeated inaudibly. Emery was torn out of her thoughts as he sped up, now almost dragging her along. Shadow didn't notice the floating eye at the end of the hall until he heard Emery gasp and grip his hand tighter. When he did, he was already past him and in the room ahead when he finally skidded to a halt. He stopped so fast that Emery ran right into him from behind, with her taking most of the force of impact while Shadow didn't budge. Emery groaned in pain and Shadow looked at her guiltily, still having yet to let go of her hand.

"Ow…" she whined, holding a hand to her head. She was dizzy beyond belief_._ Shadow was tempted to apologize, but he didn't get the chance. Right in front of them was a giant G.U.N. mecha that landed from above. Emery jumped back in surprise, and Shadow held an arm out in front of her protectively.

"Woah," she said in surprise. She'd never seen anything like _that _in the game…

"Mantis platoon, Heavy Dog reporting in. Primary target and the girl have been located." Someone from inside the mecha voiced, "Acquiring targets. En route to intercept and destroy!" Emery stood back a little afraid. She'd never been called a 'target' before. Then soon, they were joined by company that made her wish she was somewhere else.

"Humans…willing to sacrifice their own when overcome by greed. They are a foolish race." Doom's eye observed on the other side of Shadow. Emery didn't dare look up. She just inched closer to Shadow, hoping he could keep the alien away somehow. Doom's statement made her look down in shame. The really sad thing about it was that it was true, and she knew it. She was foolish… but she would never sacrifice anyone, for any reason. She wished she could change Shadow's mind…

"Those heartless humans," Shadow growled, "Get out of my way!" he threatened with a clenched fist, going after the Heavy Dog. Emery shrunk back, trying to think of something she could do. Her ears unintentionally matted to her head.

"This is Heavy Dog. Target has been sighted: proceeding to engage and neutralize." The mecha stated as it went after Shadow. Emery almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the alien's voice right next to her.

"Does it frighten you, girl?" his unnaturally deep voice spoke to her. Emery didn't respond for a moment before finally mustering up the courage to look at him with a glare.

"Does what frighten me?" she asked quietly, her voice a little shaky.

"This is what he was created for…to destroy!" Doom replied with an evil chuckle. His statement sparked Emery's resentment, and she turned to him fully with a more confident glare.

"That's not true." She denied, keeping her voice calm, wanting nothing more than for the alien to leave her alone. Doom's eye flew closer to her menacingly until they were almost nose to eye, but Emery forced herself to not back down.

"Oh, but it is…don't you see what will happen if you give him that emerald? If he recovers them all, it will ensure the world's destruction." He manipulated, but with no success. Emery only got angrier.

"Give me the emerald." Doom's eye continued. Then Emery finally had enough of his voice.

"Yeah, right! Do you seriously think I'm going to listen to you?" she fired back completely serious, starting to raise her voice. Black Doom was certainly _not _a fan of her new-found attitude.

"Shadow wouldn't do that. You can't fool me. He wouldn't hurt anyone." She continued, her voice strong. She couldn't tell what his expression was since he was only an eye, but she assumed he wasn't happy.

"Pathetic girl! How can you have so much faith in a _hedgehog_ that's destroying human lives right before your eyes?" he shouted in anger and frustration. Emery managed to smile, though she didn't particularly know how. Through her smile, her eyes were a bit sad.

Shadow skidded to a halt on a platform when he heard Black Doom shouting. What really caught his attention wasn't his voice, but what he said. Looking over where he left Emery, Shadow was less than unhappy seeing her arguing with Doom's eye. He was the lastperson he wanted her getting involved with. Shadow growled at the floating eye and was about to run over and smack him away, before he heard the ticking of a time bomb being dropped from the mecha towards the two of them. Shadow gasped when Emery made no move to get away. In a flash, he zipped over to her and pulled her away from the bomb; the explosion pushing them back a short ways. Emery looked a little shocked at first, but then she ended up smiling. Shadow practically gave Black Doom her explanation for her.

"What the hell are you smiling about? Why didn't you get out of the way?" he scolded. Her smile faded a little, but it was still there.

"Hey, calm down." She replied normally, seemingly not affected by what just happened in the least. Shadow glared at her and refused to do as she said.

"No! What's wrong with you?" he fumed. He didn't really know exactly why he was so angry at her, but the reason didn't matter to him at this point. She wasn't even afraid of him, not even fazed at how much her lack of reaction was bothering him. Shadow worked himself up to the point he turned and walked away through the door they came. Emery ran after him immediately and grabbed his hand.

"Shadow wait." She stopped him. When he turned around, he was obviously still mad. His glare actually made her flinch a little.

"I'm sorry. I won't do it again." She said calmly, trying to appease him.

"No, you won't." he replied, grabbing her by the wrist more forcefully than normal. He turned to face her and pushed her back in a threatening manner, catching her off guard, "Not while I'm around."

Emery was pretty startled by this point. More than she ever was around him before, anyway. But hey, at least she'd learn something from it.

"Mantis platoon, Heavy Dog reporting: the targets are getting away! Requesting back-up to block the exit immediately!"

Shadow cursed remembering the mecha. They both looked in the direction they were headed, only to see a line of G.U.N. soldiers blocking the path, and the Heavy Dog waiting in the previous room. The unsatisfied black alien watched from the ceiling above the soldiers, anticipation sparkling in his eye.

'_Well, Shadow…what are you going to do?'_

…

* * *

><p><strong>Part two...finally finished. Sorry for taking so long, I had to think about this one a little -_- I decided a few days ago that this story needs more Lucas, so the first part was last-minute. I had kind of a hard time keeping Shadow in character too, so i'm not sure how well I did with that. Anyway, t<strong>**hank you to everyone who reviewed and favorited! And Sierra Zanimalini14 for being super enthusiastic! :D **

**Next time, Knuckles and Lucas take on the Glyphic Canyon! And will Shadow and Emery find a way out? Or are they...DOOMED? Bahahaha...oh, I laugh at my own jokes. Even if they're bad. XD**


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